- Dec 9, 2009
- 87
- 15
I have made bacon 5-6 times now and love it (who doesn't like bacon though). I have 2 belly's in Pop's Brine as I type. They will come out this weekend to start the drying process prior to smoking.
Here's my question - after the belly's comes out of the brine, a lot of people put pepper, garlic, etc. on the belly's during the drying process. I understand that will add some flavor to the surface it contacts. Is there any expectation that the spices/flavor will soak in/be absorbed much farther into the meat...or is this just like adding some salt/pepper to a steak before you cook it - you taste it bc it is sitting on the top of the meat and not absorbed into the meat?
The main reason I ask this is I was thinking of trying numerous different spices/rubs/etc on different pieces of the belly but don't want to waste my time/effort if this will not really be noticed after smoking/cooking. Dumping the same stuff on it all is one thing but doing a bunch of different tests and then needing to keep them all separate is definitely more work.
Thoughts?
Here's my question - after the belly's comes out of the brine, a lot of people put pepper, garlic, etc. on the belly's during the drying process. I understand that will add some flavor to the surface it contacts. Is there any expectation that the spices/flavor will soak in/be absorbed much farther into the meat...or is this just like adding some salt/pepper to a steak before you cook it - you taste it bc it is sitting on the top of the meat and not absorbed into the meat?
The main reason I ask this is I was thinking of trying numerous different spices/rubs/etc on different pieces of the belly but don't want to waste my time/effort if this will not really be noticed after smoking/cooking. Dumping the same stuff on it all is one thing but doing a bunch of different tests and then needing to keep them all separate is definitely more work.
Thoughts?